Millheim Journal. [volume] (Millheim, Pa.) 1876-1984, 1887-05-26
DwARFs AND MIDGETs.
The Whlms and Oddities OF These
Little People.
The dwarf business isn't what 1t once

The dwarf business isn't what IL once
was
Then, too, continued Mr.. Wheeler,
'dwarfs are running out. A few years ago
they were springing up, though not very
high, In all parts Of the world. Ii seemed 20
be a sort OF n dwarf age. For while 81
| inch dwarf could not earn living salary.
lie had TO possess some striking physical
feature IL he hoped 90 secure permanent sit.
nations with museum circuits Now, how
ever all this has changed. Lots of the old
time Lilliputians hal passed away, and a
4O-inck freak can get chair In a first class
eurio hall IL he is good-looking and intelli-
gent. The business was very nearly ruin
ed at one time by tricksters. As You have
possibly observed, midgets without excep-
tion have abnormally large heads. Unprin-
cipled showmen, when the dwarf supply
became inadequate, would take children
with large heads and old faces and work
them upon the circuits. There suddenly
became such an influx Of little folks ON the
market that none Of the true midgets aside
from Mrs Stranton or Admiral Dot could
get work that paid. This has passed away,
and there is no fraud about the present rep:
resentatives Of dwarfdom.
Il never saw but two perfectly formed
midgets. These were Mrs. Gen. Tom
Thumb, who is now Countess Rosebud, and
Princess Lucy. There is always some de-
formity Take General Thumb for instance
He was badly developed in the torso. 9th
er people have poorly constructed limbs or
arms, and almost universally they are doub-
le-jointed at the knees or elbows. You see
the lack Of stature must ba attributable TO
something, and rs nearly as can make out
il is in the joints.
What is the most striking characteristic
of these freaks ? Intemperance. There Is
no class of people on earth so given 10
drink. The males always like whiskey,
and the females dote on beer. Gen. Thumb
was fond of smoking, but aside from him
tobacco is not used among the men
Il never knew Of but one family wherein
dwarfs appeared in more than one genera
ton. This occurred I'm that of AdmiralDot.
He is the uncle of Major Adams the mid
get clown OF the Barnum show. Adams In
twenty-one inches in height, and his father
in nearly six feet tall. Dot is travelling a
bout the country now with little Jennie
Quigley. They earn Jointly 500 week.
Speaking about Princess Lucy reminds
me of the event that brought her into prom
inence. Years ago, when the Countess
Rosebud was Mrs. Tom Thumb, a report
was circulated that she had been blessed
with child. This was not the case, and
the story was made out the whole cloth by
one Of Barnum's advertising agents. The
Thumb family were unconscientious enough
to take advantage Of the canary. They had
heard Of the little Princess Lucy, and Mrs.
Thumb sent for her and offered TO adopt
her, send her TO convent for few years, and
then introduce her 10 the world as her
for il Is impossible 20 tell whether Lucy is 4
or 40 years old. The princess declined the
offer. She is now earning $500 week for
being eighteen inches high.
There are several instances where mid
gets appeared in a single generation of the
family The Harris sisters are bankruptcies
They vary in height from thirty-six to for
ty-two inches, and are daughters of very
poor man in Eastport, Me. The father,
mechanic, was a magnificent specimen of
physical manhood, large and powerful of
build, and the mother was above medium
size These sisters are badly deformed, all
of them have double.jointed elbows. Be-
sides this they enjoy the reputation OF being
the homliest midgets in the profession.
Young Foster, whose nom de musuem is
Hop o. My Thumb, is tweniy-eight inches
tall He has baby brother not yet year
old that weighed when ten days old one and
one-half pounds.
Lucy Zirita earns the largest salary of
any dwarf in the world. She is a native of
Vera Cruz, Mexico and is very small. Her
head is proportioned nicely to her physique,
but is shaped like that of an ape. Joseph
Smith is her manager, and he gets $500 n
week for exhibiting her. The little women
cannot win the affections of full-grown man
kind, but the men are more fortunate.
Baron Littlefnger married a lady over Ave
feet tall, and is the happy father of four fine
children. The late Commodore Mutt we'd
ded Manchester, n. II. girl, five feet FIVE
inches tall, and left one child at his death.
Minnie Warren sister Of the Countess Rose
bud, it is true, married roller skater
named Newell, who was with Nat Goodwin
in the Skating Rink Newell, however,
while hardly a midget, is greatly under
size
AIidgets are n nervous lot, and few of
them are more than passably intelligent.
They fly off on n tangent like dove from
hornets nest. Hop O. My Thumb Is the
ugliest youngster Of them all, and he fire.
quently indulgcs in spasms of rage. Dan
gerous ? Well, as much rs twenty-eight
inches of humanity could be expected